"James?" I asked trying it out on my tongue but also asking for his attention at the same time.
"Yes, Blythe?" His voice had turned husky in the darkness. It took me a moment to just come out with it.
"Did you really kill Ryan?" I could make out his dark silhouette and he didn't answer right away. My stomach knotted as I took his silence for the answer..
I suddenly flinched when his freezing finger brushed the tear I didn't know was there from my cheek.
"Was your photo not lying forgotten in your front garden?" His voice had changed..it took on a smooth velvety tone I hadn't heard him use before and my muscles relaxed..his hands were suddenly on my shoulders and he was instantly closer to me. I suddenly couldn't remember why I felt so sad in the first place.
"I think you just need some rest." James' voice purred in the darkness and then his cold lips were on my neck, traveling up to my ear to whisper there.
"Sleep." And I was immediately so exhausted..
I woke to my morning alarm and I was still so tired I put it on snooze for an extra ten minutes. I rolled over and realized I had rolled onto James. He had stayed the night? In my bed?
"Morning." He grunted.."Todd is coming." Then he vanished like he usually did before I could ask what the hell possessed him to think it was okay sleep here. My door opened like always and Todd gave me a happy sloppy grin.
I smiled back at him more in surprise..it had been a long time since I saw that happy look on his face.
"What are you so cheerful about this early?" His cheeks tinged pink suddenly.
"What do you mean?" His eyes wouldn't quite meet mine.
"Okay." I smiled back at him and made my way to the shower. He could tell me when he was ready.
I stepped out of the shower and opened the door to let the steam out. I whipped my towel around my dripping body quickly and turned back to the sink..
James was standing in the doorway..did he..watch me?
"I didn't see anything." He teased and I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. He didn't give me time to respond before he stepped in and closed the door behind him. My heart started to thud harder and he smiled, cocking his head to the side in response.
"Am I making you nervous?" He flicked out his knife again and I jerked back a step. My bare foot hit a puddle of water on the tile floor and I slipped..one moment I was gasping and falling backwards, trying to clutch at the shower curtain on my way down, the next he was in front of the curtain so my hand gripped at the front of his coat instead. He swooped an arm around my waist to catch me and then I was being spun with him pressed against my back. I barely managed to hold on to my towel when his knife suddenly pricked the base of my throat..
"What are you doing?" I gasped, thinking he was going to slit my throat and kill me finally..
"Relax." He whispered..and his icy lips and tongue caressed the bleeding wound. He never used his teeth and for that I was grateful..bruises would be harder to explain.
This was different..this was..way better than my hand. His arm tightened around my waist and I stopped panicking.
(James)
He growled pleasantly and relished in the sudden trance she seemed to be in. His instincts were flaring and he momentarily looked in the mirror at himself bent over her throat and Blythe with her head tipped back and her eyes closed. The towel had fallen away only to be held up by his arm wrapped around her waist. Her breasts were exposed to James and the scene was erotically perfect. He wondered what she felt like..
He reached a hand around and took her flesh in his palm. She began to pant and whimper but didn't pull away..didn't stop him. He closed her wound with his tongue and let the foreign feelings wash over him. He wasn't used to this..he was used to hunting and moving in for a clean kill. This.. James had long since healed her neck and finished feeding but now his full attention was on teasing her pink nipple, this he could get used to..
A knock at the door had her pulse racing, he could hear it thudding quite clearly. Then it was all over..she was moving to cover herself up completely. James didn't know what mood he was about to receive from her. He just knew how powerful and revitalized he felt. There was an intense buzzing in his veins he quite enjoyed. She wouldn't look at him.
"I'll be right out!" She called shakily and they both heard Todd go back downstairs. She finally looked down at him she seemed not to know what to say either after..
She ended up not saying anything..she firmly walked out and James let her finish dressing before he followed into her bedroom. For the first real time he noticed how beautiful she was in her black dress top with mock Jean leggings underneath...simple but it was nice.
"What are you doing to me?" She whispered from across the room.."Why can't you just do this to someone else?" Her voice had started to break a little and he didn't know what to say. He'd seen hundreds upon hundreds of victims crying and asking the same question..right before he ended their lives. If he were being honest he didn't think anyone else's blood could compare.
"You're never going to leave me alone, are you? It won't ever be enough."
Todd walked in without knocking and James was completely shocked that he hadn't heard him come up..he had been completely absorbed in her words and the truth behind them.
"Him again? Why are you crying? Why are you making my sister cry?" Todd stepped forward as though to shove James. "Did he stay the night?"
A horn honked outside but he completely ignored it.
"Todd..go. Don't miss your ride." He looked angrily and helplessly between the two of them and then left again..closing the door not so gently.
(Blythe)
"He's going to be so angry at me later." I muttered out loud..I cleaned up my face with a tissue and looked back at James who seemed not to have moved an inch. He was still looking at me and his expression was unreadable..even now was all he thinking about was guzzling my blood?
"Answer my question." I demanded and my voice was stronger..determined.
"Which one?" His husky tone made my heart pound.
"You're never going to get enough. You're never never going to leave me and my family alone." He didn't answer.
"I can't do this forever!" I almost screamed at him. "Wondering if you're going to keep threatening my family for eternity! Killing people I love..like Ryan!" I was getting closer to him with every breath I took until he was looking down at me with those ruby eyes.
"Leave them out of this..and everyone else I love or I'll tell everyone about you..including Chief Swan!"
(James)
It was like he could feel her blood boiling within him as she finished her tirade and he looked down at this feisty human..who smelled wonderful..who stirred some playful hunting instinct in his chest. His mind already flashed back to that hypnotic steamy scene in the bathroom and Blythe was so close he could smell the scent of her. Suddenly, he wound a hand into her wet hair and pulled her head to the side exposing her ear and throat to him. He wanted her trapped..so he backed her into the wall so he could hold her up with a leg between hers.
Was she even fighting him or was he just that strong? He was beginning to like this one and whether he liked it or not he needed her..in several ways.
"I will leave your family alone..they have nothing to do with our arrangement." She began to relax at his words even with their position. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered.
"I'd like to continue what happened in the bathroom another time." As soon as he said the words he realized that they were also true..he wanted to.
"If you won't hurt them anymore..what's to keep me from refusing you?" She asked shakily. He brushed his lips across her warm throat and up her jaw to speak against her lucious mouth.
"Do you want to refuse me?" He changed the way he was holding her and instead held her like a lover rather than prey. James knew what to do as his fingers played at the exposed skin of her waist and with his other hand held her face as gently as a porcelain dolls. Her eyelids fluttered half closed under his spell.
"I can make you feel good instead." He whispered against her lips again and he knew he had her right where he wanted her. She nodded her head dreamily and then James fully pressed his mouth to hers.
She was so warm and smelled so pleasant that he found he didn't mind kissing her..even though she was human. Her mouth finally began to move with his and then they were both kissing each other. Faint thoughts of Victoria rose to his mind..they had parted ways long ago when she decided she favored another lone vampire going through Europe over their small coven. It had just been him and Laurent for a few years. James focused back on Blythe..and he smiled against her kisses when he felt her hands exploring him..running under his shirt and shyly feeling under the top of his jeans. It had been quite some time since he had mated with a female and it was clearly on her mind by the way her body was heating up.
(Blythe)
I suddenly pulled away as though I had been stung..I was kissing the man who was causing all my current grief. He would leave my family alone and he just wanted me, I was prepared for that..but not this fast.
"I have to go." I stuttered, red faced and tried to leave but his blurred quick hand gripped my wrist.
"Would you like me to come back tonight or would you like a night alone?" He asked very straight faced. Now he cared about what I wanted? Another part of the new deal?
"How long could you go without my blood?"
"I can manage." He dropped my hand and backed away from me. I lifted my shoulder, shrugging.
"You can stay. I'll be back after school." Then I left without another word to him.
(James)
He showered in her bathroom as soon as she left and he could sense her mother still sleeping down the hallway.
James found himself going through her things.. her journals, old school papers, notes from friends all saved neatly in three ring binders. She had one for every year starting with third grade.
Suddenly he caught a scent..a Cullen. James flew to the window and looked across the street at Jasper and Emmett, standing there staring right at him.
"Leave the girl be." He could hear Jasper's threat as though they were standing right next to James.
"I'm invited. The girl wants me to stay." James smiled down at them.
Abruptly, James caught another scent joining them as did the Cullens and this one was different. Furrier. One of the most disgusting things he had ever come across..Emmett had the same look on his face. It was a wolf..no..it was bigger than that..
It growled at Emmett and Jasper and one moment they were looking at the thing, huge, sandy colored with wicked sharp teeth and a nasty growl. It chased them from the yard and suddenly James had a thought. Why would it be here? For Blythe? Maybe the brother? Maybe it happened to just run by.. or it followed the Cullens here.
James didn't leave the spot by the window for two full hours intent on sensing the yard and forest beyond. Just as he was about to move the smell returned and he watched the wolf walk purposefully to the front porch. It meant to come here?
James couldn't recall smelling the beast here any other time..and Blythe never mentioned knowing a wolf. Suddenly the wolf's form began to quiver and tremble. It glanced up and down the road to make sure it was completely deserted before it began to take on a new shape..a human shape. The man with sandy blonde hair pulled on some shorts and a shirt he had with him. As soon as he bent to grab the hidden spare key and unlock the door.. James sprung into action. He closed and locked Blythe's door and grabbed her spray from a desk covering himself in the strong scent of vanilla.
Werewolves could kill a vampire.. but he wanted to know why one was coming into the house. He listened to the normal human paced steps up the stairs and hoped the perfume would cover his presence. The wolf man turned and entered the mothers room.
"Felicity?" The man muttered and he could hear the man sitting next to her. "I called."
Blythe's mother answered.
"I'm so sorry, Reed. I'm just so tired these days." She sounded like it..James could smell that she didn't have much longer left..Perhaps a few months at most.
"Where's my niece and nephew?" The man asked. "School?"
"Yeah. They're good kids." She coughed. "You will take them..won't you? After I'm gone?"
"All the paperwork is being pulled up back in Arizona as we speak."
"You ran here that fast?" Felicity chuckled.
"For you." So the mother knew he was a wolf..she couldn't be one also..wouldn't he have smelled it?
"What about Blythe and Todd? Have they shown symptoms..?" He trailed off.
"Not that I've seen..not in Blythe anyway. Todd..he seems to be getting a bit more aggressive at times. Teen hormones or..," She trailed off also.
"Wolf genes?" Reed laughed sarcastically. "It's a burden to bear but if either of them end of up catching the gene..I'll guide them through it." His voice was strong and full of promise.
"Thank you, Reed."
He didn't tell the woman about seeing the Cullens outside before he left out of the door, changed and ran once more the way he had first come. Did Blythe know any of this? James didn't want to stick around to find out what Blythe's Uncle would do to him if he found he was feeding on his Niece. Things just got more interesting and complicated.
(Blythe)
This was the longest Wednesday in history. I was sitting in the loud cafeteria around noon and eating a full lunch to keep up with this morning. I couldn't stop thinking about this morning.. about how much I liked it. How much I had liked his hands on me..his mouth on me..
"Are the plans for the beach this weekend still on?" Jessica asked around her hamburger. Angela and Eric nodded enthusiastically before they all turned expectant eyes on me.
"Of course, I'm coming." I finished my drink and then Mike was running in and slid into the empty seat next to me. He was trying to speak and breathe at the same time.
"Blythe..Todd..got..into,"
My eyes bugged out of my head..was he going to say 'accident'?
"A..fight." I exhaled..a fight.
I jumped up to my feet.
"Where? How bad?"
Angela was standing with me and Mike managed to say "front office". Then Angela and I were racing around the front of the school to the office.
We blew through the door and everyone inside looked up at the ruckus we made. Todd was sitting in a chair looking unhurt but sullen.
"Todd..what the crap?" I asked, plopping into the seat next to him.
"It was just Johnny..you know how he picks on me..I handed it to him." Todd growled. I guess I couldn't fault him too much. "Anyway, I beat the shit out of him." He suddenly turned glaring eyes on me.
"Are you sleeping with that guy from this morning? The 'nobody'? Is that why you and Ryan broke up..why he disappeared?" I could hear Angela's quick gasp of shock at what he said..but she was a good friend so she left the office to give us privacy to speak.
"I don't know where Ryan is..but we've been wanting to break up for a while," It was a half truth but I had to come up with some excuse for James to be around the house like he was. "The man..is sort of who I was thinking..,"
"He smells funny." Todd said.
"What?" I blinked. To me he smelled like forest and freedom, power and just overall male.. I found his scent pleasant.
"He smells like ice and dead things..he smells like what it would be like to lose your soul in a black hole." I paused at his outrageous statement.
"Are you on crack?" I asked incredulously..
"I'll get a ride home with Trina." Then he was being called into the principal's office and the other kid walked out not glancing at anyone. His face was a mass of purple and blue...Todd had done that?
I walked back outside into the chilly air and took a few deep breaths. The bell had rung for class minutes ago and now the campus and parking lot were empty of teachers and students. I walked to my car and after digging the keys from my jacket pocket got in.
I started it and blasted the heat. I just sat there with my eyes closed feeling the warmth and listening to the music. Something freezing touched my hand and I gasped, jerking my hand away and gasping at James in the front seat of my car! How..?
"We need to talk. Now. Pull out and drive somewhere secluded."